8. Gershwin Theatre
Named for George and Ira Gershwin, the Gershwin Theatre is the largest capacity Broadway theater with 1,933 seats, located at 222 West 51st Street. Set designer Ralph Alswang created the Art Nouveau structure, which opened on November 28, 1972. The theater was built on the site of the former Capitol Theatre, which had a seating capacity of 5,230 and was known as the premiere site of many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) films. The lobby of the building contains The American Theatre Hall of Fame, and the theater’s 80-foot-wide stage allows for larger productions.
The venue was originally called the Uris Theatre, named for building developer Uris Buildings Corporation. From 1974 to 1976, it served as a concert hall for musicians such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and it shifted to hosting large musicals with a production of Porgy and Bess, composed by the Gershwins. The theater has also hosted the Tony Awards six times between 1983 and 1999. Notable productions have included 1987’s Starlight Express by Andrew Lloyd Webber, for which the theater had to be heavily modified, The King & I, Show Boat, Candide, and Oklahoma! Since 2003, the theater has housed Wicked, which reopened on September 14.